Page 49 of Finding a Melody

I grinned as I put them on and made a face as the world blurred. I almost thought maybe the water I had been drinking was really alcohol. “Wow, you’re blind.”

“Yes, please, so give them back.”

“Nuh uh,” I said, taking them off, but still holding on to them. “Have you thought about contacts?” I asked leaning closer to him. “You look all grown up without glasses.”

“I hate putting them in and out,” he said. “Please, can I have my glasses back now?”

I frowned but unfolded the earpieces and put them back on for him, leaning closer to him so we were only inches apart.

“Then again, maybe you should leave them on,” I whispered, being taken in by the way the glasses sat on his nose and framed his eyes.

“Cadence.” He sighed, his eyes flickering down to my lips.

I wanted to kiss him so badly, the need was so strong. I jerked back, surprised by my own thoughts. Where did they come from? I had already kissed Seth and now thought about Bryan? My stomach tightened. I needed to control myself. Sure, this was the first time boys paid any real attention to me, but it didn’t mean I needed to start stealing kisses from them. They were my friends.

I couldn’t ruin what I had with them because of some kisses. That was ridiculous.

“Cadence?”

I wasn’t sure what to respond with and with a blank mind, I opened my mouth to most likely make a massive fool out of myself. But before I could say anything at all, someone saved me by grabbing the chair next to me and pulling it out, making it scrape against the floor. That was enough to pull me out of my daze.

I jumped and looked next to me, paling as I watched Laurens settle down next to me with a wide mischievous grin as he stared at Bryan and me.

“Wh-what are you doing here?” I asked, confused.

“Cadence, it’s a pleasure to see you here,” he said, ignoring my question. He glanced at Bryan, something dark flickering in his eyes before turning his full attention to me. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here tonight. And we get to share a table too.”

“Who are you?” Bryan asked in a hard voice, his whole body stiffening.

“Arden Laurens, I’m working with Cadence on a project,” Arden replied smoothly, causing Bryan to glower.

I nudged Bryan. “This is the client I mentioned having to go see on Tuesday,” I filled him in, giving him a look to warn him to watch himself. Understanding dawned on him and he didn’t look any happier than before. In fact, he looked pissed.

Great. This night just got a whole lot longer.

“I thought you were out of town,” I said to Arden to be polite.

“Just here for tonight, then flying back out early morning. Couldn’t miss this party.”

That really was a lot of traveling.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to try to keep conversation going with him as the music stopped and someone on stage called for attention, telling everyone to settle down at their assigned tables. Arden didn’t even move as our table filled up with more people. Looked like he really was going to be my neighbor for the night.

Chapter Fifteen

~Bryan’s POV~

I didn’t get it. How did Cadence so easily demand people pay attention to her? It was like these parties were made for her as we went from group to group, chatting people up. There were even moments where she easily drew people into a conversation, giving me a break from having to dig deep to keep up with them.

It was exhausting having to stay up to date with so many different topics. Yet, I was always expected to be able to easily talk about everything in the world. My parents didn’t want to hear about how I couldn’t hold a conversation with someone.

That meant talking about computers, technology, cancer research, current scientific studies, and even topics like trending memes. After talking to three people, my brain started hurting, and it only got worse with the more people we met. Even my eye started twitching as someone tossed an idea my way that could potentially make me millions of dollars, or at least that was what he said. His idea was by far a joke meant to trick me into giving him money to invest.

And while he went on about his idea, I could only smile and nod, acting like it was something interesting.

Cadence was making it bearable though. There were moments where my brain felt like it froze and she flawlessly took over some conversations. The breaks were perfect and I wanted to so badly show her my appreciation.

I had been scared about asking her to come with me tonight, but I also knew I didn’t want to come here alone. I had tried bringing one of the guys with me in the past and it seemed to only attract more girls, so I had learned my lesson pretty quickly. Granted, Seth had been good at diverting their attention to him, but even after that he told me he couldn’t do it. He had felt too much like a commodity.